One step from home
by blahosaurus
Summary: With the summer breeze comes the festival of the dragon. But with Inuyasha's past, can Kagome show him he really belongs? Complete


One step away from home

Another sunny summer day in feudal Japan. The sun kissed the land and made it shine with joy. Leaves rustled as the gentle breeze caressed the trees and birds fluttered and sang to the sky. Kagome and Shippo and incredibly large yellow bag were at the side of the Well. Their attitude reflecting the day's shine. Except the bag.

_It_ was feeling grumpy.

"Lalala la-la-la LAAAAAA" Shippo sang merrily while he jumped and danced in Kagome's arms. Her melodic laugh reached 2 (very KAWAII!) velvety doggy ears. The hanyou owner of these now flicking ears looked down to see Shippo Holding Kagome's neck in a death hug while she chocked and laughed. "Really Kagome? You can stay for 2 months? No more of your scribbling or wanting to go back for…er..?" Shippo faltered as Inu-yasha's ears pricked up in attention.

"School? Nope! It's summer and I PASSED ALL MY TESTS" She shouted, grabbing Shippo's arms and twirling him around.

'_She's going to stay? No more stupid homework or school Kagome's always babbling about for 2 whole moon cycles? No more missing her sweet scent.. What! I mean… No more missing her to annoy and enrage. Yeah, that's what I mean._

_Right'_

Inu-yasha thought, a smile tugging at his lips. And though his eyes flashed with hope he wasn't that accurate in expressing his thoughts… "Well isn't that just great! Well, at least we have 2 moons of none of you pathetic whining to go to your stupid, stinky era to do your stu-" But before Inu-yasha could finish his oh-so-heart warming speech Kagome Had crouched down, taking hold of the largest rock she could find, straightened up and threw it at his head. Inu-yasha, too busy insulting her didn't see it coming.

**Smack!**

The rock hit him right in the middle of the forehead. "OW! You stupid WENCH! What do you think yo-"

"Sit" she said, an evil giggle escaping her mouth as Inu-yasha crashed into the floor. Kagome looked down to see Shippo's eyebrows slightly raised. She shrugged. "Immature, I know, but…FUN!" and with that they made their way to Kaede's village, leaving Inu-yasha to continue his fun task of eating dirt and grass. And judging by his twitching eye and deep growl coming from him he was just ESTATIC about it.

"Kagome-chan!" Sango smiled as she saw the two of them approach. " Hi Sango-chan!" she greeted back but frowned in confusion as she got closer. The town was buzzing with unusual activity. People were rushing around, food, clothes, furniture, animals and all other kind of objects being carried or dragged around. The whole area was filled with tension and exited chatter. Everybody seemed to me smiling or laughing. "What's going on?" She asked. Miroku walked out of Kaede's hut and greeted Kagome. "Back so soon Kagome-sama?" he smiled. "Just in time for the Doragon natsu saishi!" he told her.

"A Summer festival? Really?" she gasped. With all the worry of the Shinkon No Tama and her studies, she hadn't been able to be in any of the feudal Japanese festivals. She hugged Sango, went into Kaede's hut, leaving her bag resting against a wall and went out again, one of her large smiles lighting up her face. She closed her eyes and lifted her head up to the sky. It was going to be a good summer! She would MAKE it a good summer dammit! Even if that meant giving in when fighting with Inu-yasha. Stubborn fool. At least he had a sword.

A very BIG sword.

And dog ears…

Inu-yasha grumbled and cursed under his breath. Over the past year he had come to know the floor pretty damn well. Too damn well for his linking! He intended to give Kagome a piece of his mind. And maybe smash HER into the ground a few times while he was at it. Intended that is, but as he walked out of the forest and saw Kagome, all thoughts _swooshed _out of his mind and the muttering stopped. Her hair danced lazily around her, the breeze playing with the ebony tendrils. Her eyes were gently shut and her face shined with such a pure smile, it made Inu-yasha's heart flutter in the most peculiar way.He stopped and stared at her. School uniform brushing against her creamy skin, head lifted up to the cloudless sky.

'_She so damn…beautiful' _he thought and a light blush colouring his cheeks.

Kagome could feel someone staring at her. She opened her eyes to find Inu-yasha's beautiful ones enchanting her. His face held an expression she had never seen his eyes behold. She couldn't quite grasp which one it was though. As their eyes locked, Kagome's smile changed. This smile was seen by few. A special smile that by, I'm very sure, pure coincidence, appears when she looked into those two pools of molten amber and gold.

'_Too bad Inu-yasha Is such a thick skulled fool he can't even see why the sudden gleam in her eyes!' _Shippo's thoughts grumbled.

Inu-yasha's blush darkened as she caught him staring, but he couldn't rip his gaze away from her stormy blue eyes. The world seem to melt away so that only Kagome and Inu-yasha stood, their eyes still locked. Kaede walked in to see the two entranced, Shippo, Miroku and Sango watching them silently. Sango went to motion for her not to speak, but was to slow. "What is going on?" and the spell was broken. The two turned around to look at the old woman, both of them blushing.

"Feh!" Inu-yasha turned around and jumped into the forest, his heart still beating fast.

The day died with a bloody outburst of flaming colours as Night's blanket took over. As darkness came, it was spectacular the way the little town transformed in such a magical place. As lanterns shaped as red and green dragons were put up and lit the place giving it the glow of a fairy town. Fireflies glowed, dancing around the sugary treats placed to attract them. Trinkets of gold and green were put up and their song chimed with wind as their conductor. The whole town had a golden-dragon scene. Can't you just see it in you mind's eye?

In the town centre was a spectacular piece of art. The Fire the blazed in the middle of town was cages inside an almost transparent dragon. It seemed to move, to flow as it's scales shimmered with the firelight. And if you looked inside it's eyes a shiver when down your spine. As the fire raged behind them, they seemed so _alive_.

"Come on Kagome-chan we have to get ready!" Called Sango. Kagome looked up at her from the window she had been gazing through and frowned. "But…Sango-chan… I don't have any festival cloth-" She began but was quickly cut off by Sango. "Don't worry, the women have been working on something. You are, after all, the miko and collector of the shards! They are all very proud of you Kagome-chan! Now come on!" she ordered with a smile, pulling the teary eyed teenage miko into another room.

"Inu-yasha you have to change from those clothes." Miroku said patiently. "I mean, when was the last time you even changed?" he mumbled under his breath, Inu-yasha ignored his obviously heard comment.

"No I DON'T" Inu-yasha barked back. Miroku didn't have time for this, so he chose the shortcut, praying that it would work. "Fine Inu-yasha, fine. But… Kagome-sama will be so disappointed!" He said, half to himself. At that Inu-yasha's ears pricked and he turned to look at the Monk. Miroku pushed down a smile and continued. "Poor Kagome-sama… she so wanted you to go. But without the right attires I gue-" But he was interrupted by Inu-yasha as he snatched the cloths from the Monk's hands. "Fine!" he growled and stomped off into another room to get changed in peace. Miroku smiled.

'_Victory!'_

Miroku and Inu-yasha stepped outside the hut, Miroku with a bright smile and Inu-yasha with his usual scowl. Miroku was still wearing the same monk style, but the top held on a little tighter, tracing his muscled chest. It was of a lighter material and flowed more naturally at the bottom. He was dressed with the same colours, but silver embroidery was added at the hems, making it flash in the light. Inu-yasha also in his style haori and trousers, but his cloth's were made of flowing gentle silk. The undershirt was a creamy white and the rest a dark green. Around one of the flared legs twisted a gold and green dragon, his eyes summer suns.

They walked over to the centre of the town. People sang and danced, clapped and cheered. They ate and played as one. Lovers together, disputes forgotten until the next day. The dragon shimmering in the middle of it all.

This was life.

Inu-yasha was assaulted my smells and sounds and stopped.

A million different sounds, a million different smells. But somehow… it didn't sicken him. On the contrary.

It made him happy.

Careless chatter,

Laughter

Songs

The melody of instruments carried by a joyful wind.

Children playing, their giggles like bubbles of joy.

The smell of spices,

The smell of a town who has food to eat.

Plentiful harvests and game, skilled towns folk, hunters.

This, this was the heartbeat of the world, what life should be like.

What he had wanted to be part off.

He remembered when he was still just a whelp, a child. He had given up on trying to join the festivals the day of the slicing game.

Metal and flesh.

Metal and blood.

He shuddered.

No.

He didn't _belong _here. He was a half breed after all.

Miroku looked back and his heart clenched at the sight of his friend. He was panting slightly, his eyes wide and slightly glazed.

What was he remembering?

His face was contorted in pain

Anger

And

…

Fear.

Inu-yasha took a step backwards.

No

He wouldn't go through it again.

Sweat covered his brow and trickled down his face. Miroku stared at his friend, his eyes wide. He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted at the sight of Sango.

'_Wow_'

Her silk kimono flowed with her as she moved, every move causing ripples like water in a pond. Its colour were light and innocent like her, but feminine. It consisted of a summer blue kimono, from the hem of the bottom it was decorated with flowers, captured in a way that when she moved they seem to grow and intertwine. And for once her hair was let lose. It cascaded down her back and shoulders.

She was truly captivating.

Inu-yasha turned around suddenly and froze.

Kagome was laughing along with Sango. Her face lit up. Her Kimono was just as beautiful, and it complimented her splendidly.

It was a cream white, pure like her soul. But it was decorated with the branch of a sakura tree. Bloomed and blooming flowers dotted, and petals in mid flow, as if whisked away with the wind seemed to almost come to life as she laughed and walked, Inu-yasha almost expected cherry blossom petals to suddenly blow around her. Her dark and slightly curly hair contrasting against her kimono. In Inu-yasha's opinion, her scent was made even more exotic by the real sakura petals that decorated her hair. They were coated with a thin layer of plant wax so they would not go flaccid, and stay fresh for many hours. She looked like a Goddess of nature, pure as an angel's song.

Noticing the practically drooling pair they tuned to face them, as the boys quickly shut their gaping mouth. Miroku managed to rip his eyes from Sango to Inu-yasha. He sighed in relief as he saw him with a bemused, shocked expression in his face.

"There you two are!" Sango smiled and blushed slightly as Miroku openly stared again .

Kagome's eyes widened slightly as she saw Inu-yasha.

'_Wow, he looks handsome! I had almost forgotten how muscular he really is…._

_Almost!' _She thought. "Wow Inu-yasha! You…er…changed!" She smiled sheepishly, blushing prettily.

"Keh!" Inu-yasha snorted, turning his head to look at the forest, but Kagome didn't miss the tell-tale blush dusting his cheeks.

Miroku stepped forward. "Sango, you look more beautiful than usual!" he said, offering his arm to Sango, who blushed again but slipped her arm through his. "Well, come on! What are we waiting for!" Miroku's voice jingled merrily walking into the festival's heart with Sango. As they walked away they seemed like the perfect pair.

Seemed.

"Hentai!" Sango's voice boomed across the festival, followed by the clapping sound of a slap.

Some things never change.

"Kagome!" Shippo jumped from Kaede's shoulder and barrelled into Kagome's now outstretched arms.

"Shippo! Wow, you look great!" She smiled as she saw his fine trousers and silk kimono under his pelt. Shippo smiled back.

"You look so beautiful Kagome!" he complimented. Kagome's face lit up with a smile.

"Thank you Shippo! That really means a lot!" she said and hugged him tighter before letting go so he could jump down to the floor beside her. Inu-yasha looked at her as her eyes glinted with joy and felt a pang of guilt.

'_It should be for me that smile is directed! Stupid runt!" _he growled softly.

"Look at all the food Kagome! Can I have some? Can I? Oh Kagome look at that! Oh! And that!" Shippo's eyes were glittered childishly as he was pointed madly at different parts of the festival. Jugglers, acrobats, fire players, dancers and tables covered with majestic buffets. Kagome smiled down at Shippo, sometimes she forgot just how young he really was. "Yes of course! But be careful! Don't get lost! Kirara, please stay with Shippo" She asked the cat-youki. Kirara mewed and nodded in response and took off with Shippo. Kagome, though she was sure nothing would happen to him with Kirara, couldn't help but worry as he saw his little form hop away. Well, she had to let him have fun too!

"Keh!" Inu Yasha muttered. Kagome turned to look at him. _'He's worried too!' _she though. Inu-yasha caught her knowing smile. "Feh!" he huffed and stomped over to the festival, only to stop but a meter from where the centre of the town started. Kagome walked over to him , concern obvious in her expression.

"Inu-yasha? What's wrong?" she asked , her eyes searching his face for a hint. He just stood there, his eyes glazed over, staring at the joyful cowed, Kagome didn't think he was going to respond, but to her surprised he sighed, and turned to her, his eyes ablaze with an emotion she couldn't identify.

"I don't belong here Kagome. This is a festivals for pathetic humans like you, not… not half-breeds like me" he whispered, his voice held no strength. Kagome's heart clenched at his sad expression. _'Oh, Inu-yasha, what did they do to you?'_ she thought.

"What about Shippo and Kirara? They aren't human." she retorted. Inu-yasha looked over at Shippo who was stuffing his face while he talked to a boy as small as him, both of them sat on the table with Kirara faithfully watching them as she ate some cooked fish and smiled sadly. "Shippo is still young. Thanks to you, Kagome, he will be accepted. But I'm not a youki. I'm a half-breed. A cross over. I don't belong. Not here, not anywhere." He said the last part softly, and with that the jumped into the forest. Kagome gasped and reaching for him, but was too late.

'_Oh, no you don't!'_ She though stubbornly and ran into the forest. He wouldn't run away from her, not again.

Inu-yasha settled in the branches of the God Tree. His tree. It had been his home for 50 years. His deathbed and where he had been reborn. And most importantly of all, Where he had met Kagome.

Years of pain and loneliness, years of tortured solitude, years of nothing but him, his thoughts, and the abuse of others. He had endured it all, never given up. Then, one day, he was blessed with someone pure, someone who would love him… if he changed. Kikyo had been his saviour, but for one condition. She had asked him to be human, so she could be human. She asked him to change and be a filthy half-breed no more, so the jewel could be purified. And he had complied. He would give up smelling the moonlight on the trees, hearing the quiet song of nature and animal. He would give up running in his forest, his freedom, the very essence of his soul, just to be with her. Just so he didn't have to be alone anymore. It didn't matter that Kikyo was asking something of him. She was one of the few people who looked at him with lack of disgust. That was enough. They had agreed to live together. Maybe even to be mates. He _loved_ her. And that was a big thing for him, considering his past. He had allowed himself to trust her, allowed her to come and take his heart. And in her grasp it had broken. Her arrow had pierced it through. He thought it would never be able to love again.

But then he found out it was all part of a plot. His heart crushed, his lover killed, just because some freak wanted a fucking jewel. Well, you can imagine how he felt.

Extremely happy

Extremely sad

_Extremely _angry

Kikyo was brought back. For him? Maybe not, but she came back _because _of him. And that had to mean_ something_.

Right?

But everything became so _complicated._ So very, very complicated. The Kikyo wandering the world now was a snapshot of the real her. A fragment of her, a frozen image of her when she was betrayed. How cruel to be brought back just when your heart is breaking, making the pain last an eternity. And that's what had happened to her. His sweet Kikyo. No one who didn't know Kikyo before she died, before she was murdered, can judge her.

_No one._

And with the jewel broken and Kagome there.

Kagome…

Inu-yasha sighed.

Kagome and her smiles. Kagome and her laugh. Kagome who looked so much like Kikyo, but was nothing like her. Kagome who made him feel something he couldn't describe. Maybe love was part of it, but it wasn't that. He couldn't describe…

Inu-yasha looked up to the stars and listen to the lull of nature. He remembered a time so long ago when he looked at the piercing stars and he has promised himself that it would never happen again. He would be ever on the defence.

So much for that crap.

He sighed. _'How did things get so fucking messed up?'_ He thought with a growl. But as a gentle breeze tickled his nose he smelt her sweet scent, a patch of lilies in a field of snow, and suddenly things weren't so dark anymore.

Kagome walked through the forest. She knew where Inu-yasha had gone. The God Tree, she was sure. That's where she always found him when he needed to think. She knew him better than he thought.

She stopped at the base of the tree, feet on one of it's many roots. She rested both hands on the trunk and looked up. Inu-yasha sat there, just like she had predicted. His face turned up to look at the heavens, his features hidden by shadows. He looked so mysterious.

He hadn't given any signs to show he knew she was there, but she knew better. With his hanyou senses he could smell her a mile away.

"Inu-yasha?" she called softly, sure he would hear her. He didn't move from his position. Kagome frowned.

'_Does he always have to be so stubborn?' _she thought, with a sigh. _'Fine then, he has met his match!'_ and with that she dedicated herself to try and scramble up the tree. She jumped a few times, trying to grab a branch until she finally managed to latch on to one of the lower one. But then there was the part of getting _on _it…

"Aha!" Kagome smiled triumphantly as she sat on the branch. Never mind that it had taken her almost ten minutes. She was there. She looked up and the smiled faded. Inu-yasha was a few branches up, and it looked pretty high…

With a sigh she stood up on the branch with the support of the trunk. She let go of it as she tried to reach the next branch.

A little bite more.

Almost there…

"Eep!" She shrieked as her foot slipped. _'Falling, falling, falling, falling, FALLING!' _she thought madly. She felt the rush of gravity, as if everything was slipping away from her instead of her going away from them. Air curling around her, ground dieing to say hi…

"Yaah!" She screamed as a pair of strong arms caught her and lifted her unto the branches of the God Tree.

"Stupid wench! What do you think you're doing! You could of broken your neck!" Inu-yasha told her off as he jumped from tree branch to tree branch in a blur.

"you could of stopped me before!" She retorted. Inu-yasha settled in the branch he had been before, putting Kagome down beside him and letting go of her waist. Kagome gasped and grabbed his hand.

"Don't let me go." She whispered. Inu-yasha looked at her, surprised. She blushed slightly but didn't let go of his hand. For a second she thought he as going to put her down on the floor. Her heart cracked slightly.

Inu-yasha looked at her in confusion. Her voice when she had said that, like she was lost and only he could save her. It froze him. Suddenly her eyes took a different emotion. A pain as deep as his scars, it snapped him back to reality.

He pulled her towards him, one hand around her and another on her waist. He leaned back on the tree with her back against his chest. He felt her relax as his arms wove around her waist, pulling her closer. She rested her head against his shoulder.

'_My guardian angel…'_

She had never felt so safe.

Minutes passed as they looked up at the sky but eventually Inu-yasha broke the comfortable silence.

"Why did you look like that?" he asked softly, the gruffness of his voice gone.

"Like what?" she asked, confused.

"When you told me not to let you go… you…keh! Never mind!" He said, closing up again. Silence fell. Kagome frowned. _'When I told him…oh'_ She thought, realising what he was talking about.

"I thought… I thought you were going to put me on the floor. That you wouldn't really want to…well…hold me. That you wanted to… let me go." She said softly, the last words barely a whisper. Inu-yasha unconsciously tightened his arms around her slightly. Kagome smiled and rested her arms on his, squeezing once before letting them rest there.

"My turn" Kagome said. Inu-yasha frowned in confusion.

"Your turn for what, wench?" He asked, not liking where this was going.

"My turn to ask you a question." She said matter-of-factly

"It doesn't work like that!" Inu-yasha protested.

"Shush!"

"What? You can't-"

"Shush!"

"Keh" Inu-yasha pouted. "Well?" he asked impatiently.

"Why didn't you want to go to the festival?" She asked.

"I already told-"

"Tell me all of the truth. Not just part of it." She interrupted.

"Keh!" he said, but ruined the effect by sighing.

"Fine, wench" He murmured. "When I was a whelp and didn't have anyone to look after me, I went to a festival looking for food. Instead of just turning me away they decided to make a sick game out of it. So they got some metal stars and, well… Keh! It was a long time ago. I just… People are never going to accept filthy half-breeds like me. I've learnt that the hard way. I'm just as good as a prey animal, so that's how they treat me. And any… Kagome? What…Why are you crying?" Inu-yasha's ears drooped as he smelt Kagome's tears on the summer breeze.

Kagome closed her eyes, trying to keep the tears in, but they just kept spilling out.

"How can people be so cruel?" She whispered. Inu-yasha turned her around in his arms. He hated to see her cry. It made him feel so helpless…

"Kagome… don't…I'm not worth your tears. That's just how the world works. It's ok." He tried to reassure her, but Kagome cried harder, sobs rattling her fragile body. She shook her head slowly.

"No! it's not ok. You deserve my tears and so much more. What you _don't_ deserve is what people have done to you. I just don't understand how people can think you're anything less than them because you have mixed blood." She rasped out.

'_She doesn't understand…?'_ Inu-yasha frowned in confusion. What wasn't there to understand?

"Kagome… I'm…I'm a half-breed. A _thing_" Kagome cried harder. " Nowhere I belong. That's just how things are. My tainted blood-" But Kagome had heard enough. She slammed her palms against his chest.

"Stop it! Just…shut up!" She shouted. "How can you say that? It's not true! Not only are you as good as anyone else, your better than most people, human or youki, that I know! It's the man you are that I love. Not your strength or your humanity! Just…**you**!" She was clutching his haori, her tears filled eyes ablaze with anger, staring into his. Inu-yasha looked at her in shock. Never had he seen anything as beautiful, as _alive_ as her.

'_Did she just say…?'_ Inu-yasha thought, a hopeful glint in his eyes, and as he stared into the flame of her soul he couldn't think of anything to say so…

Inu-yasha crashed his mouth against hers, careful not to hurt her. He pulled her close against his chest. He felt her gasp against his mouth but a second later she was kissing him with as much passion. Inu-yasha licked her bottom, asking for entrance. She moaned and opened her mouth, accepting him further into her soul. Inu-yasha massaged her tongue into action. She moaned again him as he tasted her, her hands tangled in his hair. She began to rub his ears between her fingers. He moaned against her mouth. She smiled. She leaned into him, forcing him back against the tree trunk, her body pressed against his. She slipped her tongue into his mouth, tasting his wild essence. She pressed against him a little more.

"Yaah!"

"Umf" Inu-yasha gasped as he fell, Kagome landing on him. They lay there, both of them catching their breath from the shock of both their first kiss and the unexpected fall. Suddenly Kagome started giggling, slowly it escalated in to a melodic laugh. Inu-yasha couldn't help but smile.

"What's so funny, wench?" he asked, but she could tell he was amused.

"We…We fell from the tree!" Kagome giggled as she calmed down. Inu-yasha chuckled. Kagome shifted upwards reaching for his ears and started rubbing them as he nuzzled her neck, trailing kisses up and down her jaw line. Kagome sighed contently. Inu-yasha smiled.

'_This is the feeling I want. This is the feeling I crave for, I want this to stay with me forever' _Inu-yasha thought as he pulled Kagome closer.

They lay there for what might as well have been an eternity, the music of the festival dancing with the wind. But eventually Kagome stood up and dusted herself off.

"Lets go to the festival shall we?" She asked. Inu-yasha stood up and looked at her outstretched hand, just one step away from him.

'_I'm…I'm one step from home.' _He though.

"Feh" He scoffed but he couldn't hide his smile. Kagome smiled back and the warmth of it made Inu-yasha's insides melt. He took her hand in his, letting her drag him back.

'_I don't know how things changed but I'm glad they did._

_I'm glad they did…'_

A/N

Well there you go, took me long enough. This _is_ just a one-shot, though Blood on Metal is the story of the night when he was just a whelp and he went to a village festival looking for food.

Disclaimer- Sadly, I don't own Inu-yasha. I do have Sesshoumaru tied to a lamppost…

Thank you for reading and the least you can do for me spending time on the story you can read is review!

bows

-Queen Baka-


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